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Under strandens granar, Op 13 No 1

Introduction

Almost a quarter of Sibelius’s songs are settings of Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804–1877), the great Finnish poet writing in Swedish, and without doubt Sibelius’s favourite poet. The Opus 13 settings are all Runeberg and they come from the early 1890s: indeed, they were announced in the press as early as 1892, the same year in which he had scored his breakthrough with the Kullervo Symphony. Under strandens granar (‘Under the fir trees’) was written on his honeymoon at Monola in Lake Pielsjärvi in the summer of 1892. Runeberg’s poem has something of the spirit of a folk-ballad: it tells how a watersprite seduces a handsome youth by assuming various disguises. Sibelius’s setting makes use of some freely-conceived recitative and the piano texture is obviously conceived in orchestral terms.

Recordings

Sibelius wrote a surprisingly large number of songs throughout his life, and anybody who responds to the Nordic spirit and subject-matter of the symphonies and other orchestral music will find much to please them here.» More

Beneath the fir trees on the shore, a boy was
playing beside an inlet of legendary Lake Saimaa.
From his halls under the water the sprite
fell in love with the beautiful boy
and decided to entice him.

First he appeared on the shore
as an old man,
but the happy lad ran away.
Then he appeared on the shore as a youth,
but the happy child
would not stay.

Finally he transformed himself into a frisky foal
and pranced among the trees. When the boy
saw the happy foal he stealthily went to entice him,
seized his mane and leaped upon his back to ride him.
The sprite immediately
fled to the deeps with his prize.
Then the boy’s mother came to the shore,
tearfully searching for her child.
From his halls under the water the sprite
saw the pretty woman with desire in his eyes,
wishing to entice her.

First he appeared on the shore as an old man,
but the sorrowing woman fled.
Then he appeared on the shore as a youth,
but the unhappy woman would not stay.
Finally he transformed himself into the happy boy,
rocking amid the waves.

When the mother saw her son for whom she grieved,
she sprang toward his arms among the billows,
anxious to save him from peril.
But immediately the sprite
fled to the depths with his fine prize.